Redcar is situated on the north east coast of the UK, our blog lets you know the best places to eat, stay and have fun in Redcar. We plan to keep everyone updated about the latest events and news in Redcar. In our blog about Redcar you will find everything from the best bed and breakfast in Redcar to the best fun days at Redcar.

Monday, 2 September 2013

Night of woe leaves Redcar Bears with mountain to climb

Redcar Bears’ hopes of extending their season were dealt a painful double blow on Saturday

Matej Kus in action for Redcar Bears

Redcar Bears’ hopes of extending their season were dealt a painful double blow on Saturday.

The
Ecco Finishing Bears’ cup dreams were shattered when they crashed 55-35
in the semi-final at Rye House, so losing 97-83 on aggregate, while
Leicester edged ahead of the Teessiders in the battle for the final
play-off place in the league through a 50-40 victory over Edinburgh.

“It
wasn’t the best night in the Bears’ history,” lamented Bears boss
Jitendra Duffill, who must have sensed the omens were not good when
Thomas Jorgensen, lined up as a guest in place of Matej Kus, was forced
to withdraw with a back injury while riding for his own club-side
Scunthorpe in the first part of the double header in Hertfordshire.

Rye
House went on to win that league match 50-40, then tore into the Bears
with five heat advantages, including three 5-1s, in the opening six
heats to lead 26-10 and already have one foot in the final.

“After that we held our own and even clawed a couple of points back before heat 14,” pointed out Duffill.

“They
used their experience from the previous match to know exactly how the
track was riding from the start, whereas our boys took a race or two to
dial into the conditions and get race sharp.
“We were definitely at a disadvantage going on second.”

Between
matches Duffill went to great lengths ensuring that he could utilise
Ashley Birks, who had top scored with 12 for Scunthorpe, as a new guest
for Kus and, despite a protest from Rockets promoter Len Silver, the
proposed move was sanctioned.

But Birks suffered a groin strain in
his opening race for the Bears and failed to replicate his earlier
form, while Ulrich Ostergaard and Carl Wilkinson both struggled with
equipment amid a generally below par performance from the visitors.

Micky
Dyer, Aaron Summers and Birks all went on to win races but the early
deficit was too great to overcome and the rampant Rockets went out with a
bang, extending their winning margin further in the closing two races.
“I
heard bits and pieces from Leicester throughout the meeting,” added
Duffill, “but didn’t know the final result until after we’d finished and
that was just the final nail in the coffin of a very disappointing
night.”

The Lions are now level in the table with the Bears but
have a marginally better race-points difference of eight, with both
sides facing one more away match.
The Bears return to Rye House on
September 14 and should know exactly what they need to do by then as
Leicester conclude their fixtures at Newcastle next Sunday.
Duffill
stressed: “It’s not often we want our greatest rivals to do well but we
need Newcastle to do what they do to most teams at home and that’s
destroy Leicester. But it won’t be any easier for us at Rye House - it
could all come down to race points difference, but I hope it doesn’t.”